Bullet resistant vests have been standard equipment for members of most state and local police departments. These vests are generally made of a fabric shell, usually of a woven material, containing compartments which house panels of impact absorbing anti-ballistic material such as Kevlar® (E.I. Dupont, Inc.), Spectra® (Allied Signal, Inc.), and Twaron® (Akzo, Inc.). The vests are designed to surround the torso of the wearer, at least from the neck to the waist, with a layer of the protective panels. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,275 to Blauer discloses a lightweight flexible garment intended to protect against unexpected handgun attacks. The vest incorporates a plurality of panels of Kevlar or similar soft, mid-flexible, ballistic fabric material enclosed within a durable outer covering. The panels are joined together using cinches, straps, and/or VELCRO® along the sides so as to permit the protective panels to encircle the wearer's torso. Routine use of these vests subjects the police officer to considerable inconvenience and discomfort. The police officer is required to wear the vest throughout the entire workday, usually beneath their standard police uniform shirt. The vests are stiff and constantly shift from the desired position, impairing the officer's appearance and undermining concealment of the vests. Further, when worn under a uniform the vests inhibit movement and air circulation and therefore lead to discomfort, restricted movement, and increased heat. Thus, the officers constantly readjust their uniforms to address these issues. Combined, these factors have led to a greater level of noncompliant or improper usage of the bullet proof vests by law enforcement than would normally be expected. Several bullet proof vest designs have attempted to improve upon the Blauer vest without success. For Example:    U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,297 to Atkins (“297 patent”) describes a ballistic panel carrier garment in the form of a shirt that permits its wearer to readily install and remove ballistic panels in to receptacles within the shirt. The receptacles are dimensioned to protect at least 75% of the upper torso of the wearer. The shirt as disclosed by '297 patent does not fully protect the upper portion of the wearer's shoulder and, in particular, the torso portion immediately beneath the wearer's arms.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,683 to Stones, et al. (“'683 patent”) describes a protective body armor garment in the form of a vest that can be worn over or in place of a standard uniform shirt. Although the garment disclosed in the '683 patent attempts to maintain a degree of professional appearance while concealing the use of body armor, it does not fully protect the wearer's side torso.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,585 to Bachner Jr. (“'585 patent”), discloses a concealable protective garment having additional protection for the groin. The garment has an extended panel formed of an underlying garment which covers the frontal waist area of the wearer to overlie the frontal areas of the wearer. Various straps are used to maintain the panel in a secure position, and these straps constrict the movements of wearer and interfere with the design, style, and fit of the garment.    U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,737 to Ditchfield (“'737 patent”) discloses a concealable ballistic vest having mating sides in a ball and socket configuration enabling the armor to be easily detached. The garment of '737 patent suffers from limitations on the sophistication of the wearer's ensemble and the increased heat build-up to the wearer.    U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,024 to Graves (“'024 patent”) shows a bullet resistant garment with modular components such as arm pads and groin protectors containing ballistic material. However, the garment is burdensome to wear, obviously present, and not high end apparel at all.    U.S. Pat. No. 7,546,853 to Rock (“'853 patent”) shows an advanced engineered garment with opposed fasteners pile connections on each side and at shoulder area to allow easy fastening. The garment lacks style and is quite bulky and uncomfortable to wear.
Approximately 100,000 Americans a year are victims of gun violence, nearly a third of whom are killed. It appears that these acts of gun violence are occurring on a greater scale. In light of perceived escalating violence, the civilian demand for bullet resistant garments is increasing exponentially. In particular, certain high profile individuals—such as executives, diplomats, bodyguards, celebrities, journalists, politicians, etc. who may reasonably believe that they are at risk of an unexpected attack by armed individuals—would benefit from bullet resistant garments that can be integrate into their wardrobe.
However, the above-noted drawbacks of bullet resistant vests in civilian law enforcement—bulkiness, discomfort, poor fit, fatigue after prolonged use, and impaired freedom of movement—are further magnified when such garments are considered for civilian use. In particular, lack of comfort and imperfect concealment of such garments are substantial hurdles to civilian adoption of the technology.
The bullet resistant garments of the prior art are uncomfortable and are therefore less likely to be incorporated into a civilian's daily wardrobe. In particular, the bulk and heft of prior art bullet resistant garments would considerably add to civilians' discomfort and would limit the amount of uninterrupted time a civilian could wear the garment. Further, since these prior art garments must be tightened around the wearer to provide protection they often prevent ventilation and moisture removal, especially in warm weather, further detracting from their comfort.
A uniformed police officer will maintain a professional appearance while wearing the same prior art ballistic armor, day after day, despite the bulk of the armor and its impaired concealment. However, a business person such as a banker or an executive wearing the same ballistic armor of the prior art would stand out among his or her colleagues. Thus, civilians require greater wardrobe flexibility than law enforcement and civilians place greater emphasis on a fashionable and seasonable appearance. Further, early adopters of the technology such as politicians, celebrities, athletes, etc. are particularly fashion-conscious and would be loath to risk the disheveled appearance likely with the use of today's bullet resistant garments. Moreover, there is a greater desire for concealability amongst the civilian population because publicly known use of a vest may invite unfavorable impressions such as cowardice or criminality by others. Known use amongst politicians or governmental leaders may lead to undue panic amongst the general public.
Also, with the increased numbers of women serving within the armed and civilian police forces, the issue of “fit” has arisen in relation to currently available body armor vests. In general, these vests are ill-suited to fit the curves of women and women are forced to wear larger sizes of body armor to accommodate their figures. This further enhances the discomfort of these garments for those individuals. Efforts to address these issues are illustrated within U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 20070234459 to Stewart and U.S. 20090255022. In both instances, the disclosures relate to body armor intended to fit the female form but in both instances the garments do not depart from the essential Blauer design and therefore, underlying issues of discomfort, poor fit, and lack of concealability are not addressed. In particular, the disclosure of Steward relates to a molded design wherein the flexibility of the protective panels would be adversely affected. U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,694 further discloses contoured body armor that implements radially-oriented darts; however, the darts are limited to one per layer and further add undesirable thickness to the vest.
Body armor manufacturers to date have failed to produce product lines that address the public's desire for body armor apparel which provides enhanced protective elements, integrates discretely into a fashionable wardrobe, and drapes comfortably so as not to impair their normal activities. In particular, a need exists for a garment that provides ballistic protection but has the appearance of ordinary every-day wear. The advantage would also be increased if that ballistic armor can take the form of formal, business, or casual attire to further suit the wearer's needs. A further advantage would be obtained if the armor could be contoured, given a three-dimensional shape, to accommodate the female form or that of other individuals.
The foregoing discussion is presented solely to provide a better understanding of the nature of the problems confronting the art and should not be construed in any way as an admission as to prior art nor should the citation of any reference herein be construed as an admission that such reference constitutes “prior art” to the instant application.